Okinawa will hold referendum on polarising plan to relocate US military base

Japan’s Okinawa region voted on Friday to hold a non-binding referendum on a deeply unpopular plan to relocate a US military base, in the latest twist to a long-running saga.

The decision, by local politicians, was made a month after residents elected a new governor who opposes plans to move the US Marines’ Futenma Air Station from an urban area to a sparsely populated part of the island.

While the referendum has no legal standing, a vote against the move is likely to pile fresh pressure on the central government, which backs the move as the best way to deal with anger in Okinawa about the base.

Okinawa accounts for less than 1 per cent of Japan’s total land area, but hosts more than half of the around 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan.

Noise, accidents and crimes committed by military personnel and civilian base employees have long irritated local residents, as has the perceived refusal of other parts of the country to share Okinawa’s burden.

The plan backed by the government would move the base from its current densely populated location to a remote area, partly created by land reclamation.